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Sunday, 12 October 2014

Battle Report: Darklands Khthones Vs Ysians

**First of all, a small note from me DiStudios. This battle report is well over due, so apologies in getting it up so late! Sven; our resident Darklands and Kingdom Death fan; has put a huge amount of effort in producing this fantastic battle report, so read through and most importantly don't forget to look at all the lovely pictures!**

As I’ve mentioned in some of my recent articles, my motivation for the
Darklands line doubled lately as I’ve found someone to actually play the game
with. So today I’m going to report my latest game to you, which is something
I’ve never done before so please feel free to comment on how I could improve the
reports.

The game was fought with my miniatures, me using the Khthones (link?) and
my opponent my Ysians (link). The size of the game was determined by my
collection of Ysians, which came to 1212 Gold and miraculously fits in the force
organisation chart.

For those who have no knowledge of the rules, I’ll give a very brief
summary here:

Darklands uses a rotational system that allows me to activate (speak move,
attack, shoot…) a single unit, then the opponent, then me again and so on. Once
per game every player may attempt a double activation by passing an Authority
test on the general.

There’re three orders a unit can act under:

HOLD: May not move, gains defensive abilities

ATTACK: Must move towards the enemy, may use the charge move

MOVE: May move trice its pace, may engage the enemy (basically getting in
combat without charge bonus)

There are several “feral” units in the game, which are always under Attack
Order and must charge an enemy when possible.

Darklands uses 10sided dice (D10) which range from 0 to 9, while nines
“double up” allowing you to create more hits/parries/wounds.

Attacks use 3 rolls: Firstly the attacker rolls to strike at the enemy,
then the defender rolls to parry and finally the attacker rolls for the damage
done.

The constitution of a model depicts is life points and its toughness at the
same time, so the heavier a model is wounded, the easier it get’s to wound it
and it also looses attacks.

This was our first game using magic which is called Invoking in Darklands
and uses the life points/constitution of the sorcerer as price.

Alright, on to the fun part ^^ One last note in advance: Ophios may once
per game summon a hydra. As I have only one hydra model and am the only one
using magic and shooting, we agreed that I may only summon the Hydra, if the
original one is dead.

First Hour

After the setup the Khthones (me) gained the initiative and had the first
move. Eager to try the new found magic Ophios deducted ten constitution to fire
a powered direct damage invocation of “the Maw of Khthon” at the brutes and 5
dice went trough. But the brutes had other plans and rolled three 9st to avoid
the maleficent magic, which doubled up and took every single hit. Which left
Ophios wounded and probably quite depressed.

The feral Druc used the moment to race forward as far as he could to hide
from the range damage, but the Liskarchon was quick enough to get a glance on
him with his petrifying gaze and did 23 damage.

The rest of the hosts moved quickly, the Ysians trying to hide from the
sight of the Khthon’ casters as good as possible.

Second Hour

The initiative remained with the Khthones and Petroyos managed a good shot
at Druc but rolled low on damage and did even one point less than an hour before
despite rolling 6 instead of the previously 3 dice. Strung by the hit and
probably half way petrified Druc ran for cover behind the temple, but Ophios was
fast too and snaked next to the hill, getting full view of Druc and conducting
all his rage (and 10 points of constitution) into another “Maw of Khthon” which
ripped great chunks and 40 constitution out of the Meat-Hulk.

The remaining hour saw the single Gorgonar laying an ambush for the
Battle-Drune and the bulk of Torku getting stuck in the forest by rolling low on
the difficult move charge. Carrowek remained hidden from the Liskarchons line of
sight as he knew that he was the greatest danger to him as the Stone Gaze
bypasses his main defensive ability.

Third Hour

Finally the Ysians gained the initative and Druc mobilised his last
strength to move into attacking distance of Ygandr and punched 17 damage into
its necks. The feral hydra was obliged to attack back (which count’s as having
activated but doesn’t influence the alternating activations) and easily tail
whipped the remaining 4 points of constitution from Druc.

Ophios seeing the closest danger defeated had a feeling he should look past
the hill and moved on top of it. Surprisingly there were some Ax-Drunes hiding
behind and Ophios, thrilled by his last magical success attempted two
invocations on the Drunes, which cost him 15 constitution to do final 9 damage
to the super weakly armoured Ax-Drunes, but also forbid them to use the charge
move. That didn’t hold them back from engaging Ophios, but the way uphill and
the curse of the invocation must have taken a toll on them, as they didn’t
manage to get past Ophios stellar skill.

In the following the Gorgonar and the Battle-Drune began a strange ballet
around the church and Torku moved just too far, so the Liskarchon did his dirty
work on her and did 17 damage, bypassing her defense which is similar to
Carroweks (basically deducting one D10 for every wound die caused, while the
stone gaze just causes damage).

The Brutes and Carrowek got prepared to join the fray as soon as
possible.

Forth Hour

Taking back the first activation the Khthones had an evil scheme planned.
It began with Ophios showing the Ax-Drunes his skill with the blade and taking 5
of the stunned Drunes down which were too shocked to do any damage at all. Then
the Khthon’ general made use of his high authority and succeeded in retaining
the initiative and letting the hydra loose.

Ygandr charged the Brutes with all its feral fury and ripped two apart,
taking 20 damage in return. That was the moment when Carrowek decided his skill
with the big, black axe was needed. He moved through the temple and cut 35
points constitution from the hydra in a flurry of strikes.

Knowing that his second in charge was in a rather explicit situation
against the Gorgonar, Carrowek chose to mimic the snake-general and used his
double activation, allowing Hedroc to get the charge. All this effort was to no
avail, as Hedroc didn’t get past the snake-mans defence. Gladly the monstrous
fighter seemed too stunned by the sudden attack and couldn’t deal any damage in
return.

Another evil gaze by Petroyos at Torku marked the end of the hour.

Fifth Hour

Not willing to look at the hydra getting another shot at the brutes, the
Ysians took the initiative and Carrowek beheaded all five heads of the giant
monster, taking the night unstoppable beast down in only 2 activations.
Nevertheless the Khthones didn’t despair and Petroyos took the opportunity to
take the charge from Torku. His regular attacks, which would have normally torn
through a whole regiment, doing not a single point of damage to the heavily
armoured abomination. But certainly being so close he couldn’t miss with his
gaze (which he may also use while engaged in close combat) and petrified Torku a
bit further.

The Bone-Aberrant seemed weary and managed only 8 points of damage on the
struggling lizard.

With the Hydra defeated the Brutes couldn’t resist to close in on Ophios,
which gave the Gorgonar the opportunity to take 17 constitution from Hedroc who
fluffed again when trying to return the favour.

That was the moment that Ophios had waited for. Ripping the chain from his
neck and throwing the Hydra’s Tooth to the ground he summoned another towering
beast 40 a total of 40 constitution to the battlefield while his remaining arms
were more than enough to get rid of the two lone Ax-Drunes. With all Ysian
activations expired the Hydra let loose, charged the Brutes and ripped one to
(probably five) pieces.

Sixth Hour

In an act of defiance the spiteful snakes took the first move and the Hydra
continued its gory work on the Brutes, reducing another one to a bloody pulp
while taking no damage from the remaining Brute-Champion. Entry the Hydra-Bane!
Carrowek, probably annoyed by the undoing of his previous work, charged and
killed the monster single-handed.

Returning the favour of destroying a big monster, Petroyos finally left
nothing but a statue of stone to tell of Torkus existence.

Finally the duel for the church saw blood! Hedroc swung his chain is crazy
arcs and shredding 31 points of constitution from the Gorgonar, which remained
with a single point and swung his giant blade back for 17 damage.

That left Ophios to roam free and in possible charge range of Carrowek and
the Brute, but the heavily weakened sorcerer had another plan. He moved out of
Carroweks sight arc and focused his magical might to recover 25 points of
constitution, taking him back to 35.

Seventh Hour

The battle drew to a conclusion. The Khthones retained the initiative and
Petroyos couldn’t let the opportunity of an exposed Carrowek pass and gazed for
an awesome 36 damage at the Ysian general. Finally getting a view of the Gorgon,
the last Brute wildly charged Ophios and smashed its stone blades into his body
for 17 damage, but it drowned in the flurry of the four-bladed counter
attack.

Mustering his last strength the Gorgonar raised its Kineblade and split
Hedroc right in half, finally finishing the duel.

Carrowek moves quickly out of the Liskarchons sight and into charge range
of the enemy general.

Eighth and last Hour

The final hour dawned and Carrowek stood alone. Knowing that he couldn’t
get close to the baleful gaze of the basilisk, he decided to eventually take the
head of the infamous Gorgon. A final clash of the generals, an epic fight that
would be sung about for centuries… but the Gorgon looked the other way and the
huge, black axe dug deep into his chest before he saw it coming. Carrowek roared
triumphantly, raised his axe over his head and this is the position his statue
of stone remains in forever…

So the game ended with a close win for the Khthones. Magic proved to be a
really two-sided sword, while the defence of Carrowek and Torku was only
penetrable by the stone gaze, which basically won the game on his own.

I hope you enjoyed the report and the sneak peaks on soon to come Mierce
painting articles, let me know what you think.